Being Nomadic

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

-- Augustine of Hippo

"Now more than ever do I realize that I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere."

These words by Isabelle Eberhardt in The Nomad seem to sum up my life. Since childhood I've been lucky enough to venture and explore the vast stretches and measure the length and breadth of India. With my father being in a transferable job, I have hardly ever stayed at a place for more than one and a half year at a stretch with the exception of my hometown. So far it has been a joyous and explicate experience. Enjoying the snow of Shimla, the valleys of Kashmir, the food of Punjab, the rain of Tripura, the medieval architecture of Calcutta, the shopping in Delhi, street walking in Raipur and much more.. Each place had something different to offer yet something in common to the rest.

How I wish to be ubiquitous

Travelling to distant lands to explore

Cultures, languages, heritage and places

That I have never seen before.

-Anonymous

There had been many favorites and many stories at each place. I can't help but cherish the memories I've made. Now as I sit by my window and ponder over it, I suddenly realize how diversifying yet demented my experience had been so far. Going to school by truck, moving in a 6 hour convoy to reach the railway station, trying out bamboo vegetable, banana frankies, finding a snake every other day in the house, getting back home from school at 9pm due to land-slide and much more. It had all been a part of the journey. Not always merry, but very enlightening and definitely enjoyable. One can read a thousand books but nothing equals experience. It's when you live at all kinds of places; the ones with all the facilities and others with grim living conditions, is when you realize the degree of accuracy in Charles Darwin's theory of 'Survival of the fittest' and Maslow's hierarchy. (and the concept of 'Adaptation to the habitat' in my case.) When the lord made the earth, he took deep care of offering varied, favorable conditions to each place in accordance with its geographical factors. Going to a new, different place teaches you the very essence of life: that no matter what, it goes on. Survival is the basic force driving all beings alike. Traditions, cultures, and the means might vary but they all live for this common goal.

Life never promised to be a bed of roses and so for me, moving on had never been easy. It was not only the grief of never being able to see my schoolmates again, but also the place itself. Whenever I left a place, I left a part of my soul there, to live. Forever. And now it seems that being stationary was never my thing. That being at a place can never appease me when I know I can do so much this time, be some-place else to explore, learn and live so much nature has to offer me.

I was born but a sea. To flow my existence and move on because being stationary seems to rotten me.